Placard device



April 19 1927. 1,625,309

W. A. FRYE ET AL PLACARD DEVICE 7 Filed Sept. 16. 1926 INFLANMABL E PLACARD l5 REQUIRED EMPTYTANK CAR lNFLAMMABLE VAPOR KEEP LIGHT-SAND Fmes AWAY I NHAMMABL KEEP LIGHTS AND FIRES AWAY HANDLE CARFULLY TH|5 CAR MUST NOT BE NEXTTOACAR CONTAINING EX PLUSH E3 RE PLACE D0 ME COVERQ'OUTLETCAP 4. INVENTORS William A. Frye 1L) 1 k BY Frank Head ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 19, 1927,,

units, start.

rarer me 'WILLIAM A. ZERYE, OF KANSAE CITY, AND FRANK HEADY, OF COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS,

ASSIGNORS TO SINCLAIR REFINING CGNIIPANY, 0'15 NEE? YORK, N. Y., A CORPORA- TION or MAINE.

PLACARD DEVICE.

Application filed September 16, 1926. Serial No. 135,776.

This invention relates to an improved reversible placard device particularly useful in connection with tank cars employed in the shipment oi oil or other inilanm'iabie volatile liquids. Such tank cars present certain hazards, when loaded due to the inflammable and fluid nature of their contents and when empty due to inflammable vapors remaining in the car, and, according to speciiic rules and regulations of the Interstate Commerce Commission, such cars are required to carry placards indicating the nature of their contents, one type of placard being required when the car is loaded and another type being required when the car is empty.

Hitherto, it has been common practice to employ paper or ca 'dboard placards for this purpose, one set of placards being pasted or tacked on wooden supports provided on the car when the var is loaded, and these placards being replaced by another set attached in a similar" way whenthe ;car is unloaded at its destination. Sometimes these wooden supports are not p and the placards then are usually p he ends and sides of the tank itselt. n i have also been proposals to employ reversible placards ot' a permanent nature carrying on one side indicia appropriate for a loaded car andon the other side indicia appropriate for an empty car. The reversible placards hitherto available, however, have not been entirely satisfactory; some of them have been subject to too easy removal from the car, some to too frequentaccidental reversal, and most of them have been of a construction such that the placard might assume or be placed in an intermediate position making it impossible to tell from the placard whether the car was loaded or empty.

This. invention provides an improved reversible placard device which has several important advantages. It is of simple and durable construction. It is easy to reverse as occasion requires its reversal, but it is practically impossible to reverse it accidentally. It is not separable from the car by accident. And with it, the placard cannot be maintained upright in an intermediate position.

The reversible placard device of the invention comprises a support having a socket and a placard holder having an extension adapted to be inserted in either of two positions in this socket, the placard holder being supported through the extension by the socket when the extension is inserted in the socket. Attached to the holder is a means co-acting with the support to prevent a placard attached to the holder from being brought into an upright position save in these two positions or to prevent the reception of the extension on the holder from being inserted except in one of the two fixed positions and to make it impossible to bring the extension into such relation with the socket that the holder can be supported in any position other than these two. This means may advantageously take the form of an elongated stem attached to the holder and l'iaving at the opposite end an enlargement of size and configuration such that the placard attached to the holder cannot be brought into an upright position save when in one of the two fixed positions to which reference has just been made and such that the extension cannot be inserted in the socket otherwise. it is also advantageous to arrange this stem tl'irough an opening in the support such that the, placard holder, due to the enlargement on the end of the stem, cannot be separated from tlre support without removing the support from the car, the opening being arranged to permit of the necessary movement of the holder for reversal.

A device embodying the invention is diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention will be further described in connection therewith, but it is intended and will be understood that, while this further description and illustration exemplify the invention, the invention isnot limited thereto.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, a front and rear elevation oi a complete assembly embodying the invention as mounted on the running board of a tank car, a fragment of such a running board being also shown,

3 is a fragmentary section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4: is a section on line 4% of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 shows the placard holder with a fragment of a placard attached thereto as it appears when separated from the support, and

Fig. 6 is a plan view from beneath on line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the embodiment of the invention illustrated comprises a placard holder A and a support B. A placard C is shown attached to the holder in the drawings by rivets 7. lVhen in use, the device is attached to the running board D or other suitable part of the car, as best shown in Fig. 3. The placard C may be of heavy sheet metal. The holder, which advantageously-may be fabricated as an integral unit, for example by stamping from a sheet of metal, includes a bracket 8 for inountin the placard, a depending extentends in the complete assembly, and a bracket 13 for mounting of the support. The slot 12 is wide enough to permit rotation of the n 10 therein but is too narrow to permit withdrawal. of the enlargement 11 there through. One end. of this slot terminates in an opening 1 1 of such size and shape as to permit withdrawal of the enlargement at the end of the stem therethrough, but this opening is so arranged that it is closed when the support is mounted, for example on a running board or part of the frame of a car, as is clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 6. The stem 10 is of length suflicient to permit the withdrawal of the extension 9 from the socket of the support to permit reversal of the placard when the enlargement 11 is dis engaged from the slot 12.

Assuming the placard to be in the position shown in Fig. 3, to reverse the placard, the holder A is raised until the extension 9 is withdrawn from the socket on the support B, the holder is then tipped slightly to the right so that the projections of the enlargement 11 are moved sufiiciently to the left to clear the edges of the slot 12 and the face of the support, the holder is then rotated through 180 about this axis inclined from the vertical, the holder brought back to an upright position and the extension 9 reinserted in the socket on the support.

hen the extension 9 is inserted in the socket on the support, the placard is practically free from disturbance by arring, vibration, the movements of passing workmen who may for example brush against it, or the like. Likewise, the placard holder, and attached placard, cannot be separated from the support when the support in position on a car. To remove the placard holder from the support it is necessary to demount the support so that the aperture 1-1- is un covered. In the construction provided by this invention, moreover, it is impossible for a placard attached to the holder to be held .ie .lliit: reason it is in'ipossible to bring holder back to an upright position except in one of the two extreme fixed positions. in an intermediate posit-ion, in the device of the invention, the holder accordingl is iir-apable of support. This feature of he device also permits of the dropping the placard to a position on the car frame or body such that it is not exhibited to view wi'thou quiring its separation from the simpor for any reason this is desirable.

it will be apparent that this invention provides a reversible pla *ard device which is of substantial assistance in promoting strict con'ipliance with the aforementioned rules and re" *lations ot the Interstate Commerce Comm. L011 with but a minimum of attention and expense.

ti e claim: 1. A reversible placard device comprisa holder to which a placard is attached, uppert including a socket, said placard holder having an extension receivable in either of two fixed positions in said socket, whereby the placard attached to said holder is maintained in an upright position, and means attached to said holder and co-acting with said support to prevent the placard attached to said holder from being brought into an uprightposition save in the two said .lixed positions.

A reversible placard device comprising a holder to whicn a placard is attached, a support including a socket, said placard holder having an extension receivable in either of two iixed positions in said socket, whereby a placard attached to said holder is maintained in an upright position, and means attached to said holder and cooperating with said support for securing the plcard holder against rotation in any po- Nion which it may assume due to longi tudinal movement between said holder and support, said means being rendered inc)- tive upon a movement of the holder transto the support.

3. A. reversible placard device comprising a holder to which a placard is attached, a support including a socket, said placard holder having an extension receivable in either of two lixed positions in said socket,

t re t if whereby the placard attached to said holder is maintained in an upright position, and means attached to said holder and co-acting with said support to prevent the placaii'd attached to said holder from being brought into an upright position save in the two said fixed positions, said means also being operable to prevent separation of said holder and said support.

t. A reversible placard device comprising a holder to which a placard is attached, a support including a socket, said placard holder l'lLtVlIlg an extension receivable in either of two fixed positions in said socket but irreversible therein without removal from the socket, whereby a placard attached to said holder is maintained in an upright position, and means attached to said holder and coope'ating with said support for securing the placard holder against rotation even when the extension has been withdrawn from the socket due to longitudinal movement between said holder and support, said means being rendered inoperative by a move ment of the holder transverse to the support. A reversible placard device comprising a holder including a depending extension of rectangular cross section and an elongated stem having an enlargement on the free end, and a support including a s cket adapted to receive said extension in either of two fixed positions and a portion co-acting with said enlargement to prevent reception of said extension so as to support said holder except in the two said fixed positions.

6. A reversible placard device comprising a support including a socket and an elongated opening therethrough, a holder including an extension receivable in either of two fixed positions in said socket and an elongated stem having an enlargement at the free end, said stem being Within the elongated opening and of dimensions to permit rotation therein, said enlargement being operable to prevent withdrawal of said stein through said opening except through an enlarged portion thereof, and means for mounting said support operable to close the enlarged portion of said opening.

7. A reversible placard device, comprising a support including a socket and a placard holder having an extension receivable in either of two fixed positions in said socket, means attached to said holder coupling it with said support, and means for mounting said support operable to prevent separation of said coupling means.

WILLIAM A. FRYE. FRANK HEADYQ 

